He The Writers Guild of America (WGA) represents 11,500 members who have been on strike for two weeks in the absence of an agreement with the Alliance of Film and Television Producers (AMPPTT). The writers have been on strike all these days organizing protests at the doors of Netflix, Amazon, Paramount, Warner Bros. Discovery, Disney, Apple or NBC Universal, among others, and the first affected have been live shows such as Jimmy Fallon’s or Stephen Colbert’s ‘late nights’. Now, the creators of several series have announced probable delays if the strike continues.
It is the case of ‘Stranger Things’whose last season is scheduled for 2024, as its creators the Duffer brothers have explained. In a tweet from the series account, they have explained that their working method implies that “writing does not stop when filming begins.” That is why they say that they will not be able to start production while the strike lasts. “We hope a fair deal is reached soon so we can all get back to work. Until then, over and out.” Along with the message they have written one of the hashtags in support of the strike “#wgastrong”. It is not the only Netflix series that is going to face delays and production stoppages, at the moment ‘Big Mouth’ or ‘Cobra Kai’ will also be affected.
George R. R. Martin has also confirmed that The writers’ room for the newly announced ‘Game of Thrones’ prequel ‘Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Wandering Knight’ is closed. “The writers room is closed for the time being. Ira Parker and his amazing team of young talent are on the picket line,” Martin wrote on his blog.
The second season of ‘The House of the Dragon’ however, its production continues after the Filming starts on April 11 which will “continue in London and Wales”. As he explained in the text, “the scripts for the eight episodes were finished months ago. Each episode has gone through four or five drafts and numerous rounds of revisions. The writers have done their job, the rest is in the hands of the directors, the cast, the crew, and of course the dragons.” On the strike, the also screenwriter has shown “his total support for him, complete and unequivocal.” He explains that “no common sense writer wanted this, but the studios, networks and streamers have left no choice.”
The strike has claimed its first victim with the dismissal by HBO of David Simon, the creator of ‘The Wire’, after joining the strike. The writer has told it on Twitter with a video in one of the protests to explain what he was doing when HBO called him “to suspend the contract after 25 years writing television for them.”
What do the writers claim?
The delicate situation of the ‘streaming’ sector with companies trying to reduce costs as has already been seen in Disney, Warner Bros. or Netflix has been the main impediment to reaching an agreement on improving the working conditions of screenwriters .
The union demands, among other things, a salary increase and a fair payment of the so-called ‘residuals’ that are charged when the fiction is transmitted by any means. In addition, one asks for greater transparency of the platforms about the times that the products are seen and that taking that into account a percentage is paid. It is also required a minimum of between 6 and 12 scriptwriters for each room and that at least ten weeks of continuous work are guaranteed. Another problematic point that was not even addressed is the regulation of the use of artificial intelligence in creating scripts.
In the case of fiction, the consequences of the strike will be noticed somewhat later than on live television or newspapers such as soap operas. In spring and summer is when the script work begins for the series that premiere from September and it is just when the strike has begun. In the case of the cinema, the delays of the premieres will be noticed from next year.
The last strike in the sector was in 2007 with a duration of 100 days and there are experts who on this occasion estimate that it could even take four months.
Many actors and actresses like Rob Lowe, Elizabeth Olsen or Amanda Seyfried are showing their support for the writers who are the ones who give meaning to their work. The actor Mandy Patinkin (‘Homeland’) has illustrated it in a very graphic way with a video that he has posted on Twitter.
